I was born in 1982. ESPN was still gaining traction , and sports, particularly college sports in the 80s were AWESOME!

One thing that them particularly awesome was ESPN pretty much had wall to wall coverage. Football Saturdays, Texas OU, Colorado Nebraska, the snow on the turf fields was always so cool to me, Ohio State Michigan, watching with my Dad…

‘Justin, Go to Bed!!!!’

‘But Mom, UCONN-Georgetown!!!! Big Monday!!!, (what ESPN used to call the slate of games), and we have popcorn!!!’

‘You’re 5 and have school and its after 9!!!!’

Rivalries make sports great, proximity to schools, especially make them great. That’s what I grew up on.

I miss ALL of that!

Recently, college sports, particularly conferences are expandingx expanding, huge. The rivalries conferences that ,grew up on, see you later. The Big 8, became the Big 12 years ago and is growing, losing, Oklahoma and Texas, but gaining BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, UCF, (in one case welcoming back Colorado). The PAC 8, became the PAC 10, then expanded to the PAC 12 when it added Colorado and Utah years back, now? It’s a ghosttown. The Big 10 alone has poached USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington, the latter two as recently as this evening. The Big ‘Ten’ now will have 18 teams!!!

I haven’t even mentioned the SEC, that small Southeastern Conference, now will include Texas and Oklahoma in 2024.

And then there’s Notre Dame. The outlier, the Independent, that everyone in the media and the analysts like to bad mouth about the special treatment they get and how it isnt fair. They remain Independent, with an exclusive deal with NBC/Peacock to broadcast their home games for an obscene amount of money. You don’t think the Big Ten want The Irish as Team 19? Or the SEC, Notre Dame in Prime Time on the SEC on CBS, Notre Dame on Campus in Norman, or Austin?

A memo to CBS, Disney and the Power 5 Conferences Notre Dame’s sitting atop it’s Golden Dome….they’re out there ladies and gentlemen.

Back to the rivalries, some are staying as is but some are dying. Why? First and foremost, money. Money and media deals are insane! This has pros and cons.

Pro: This opens the door….USC Ohio State on a snow cold night in November, Ohio State/Washington on a rainy cold Seattle afternoon, Penn State in Oregon in September, Alabama, on campus in Norman in Prime Time, the list is endless, a sports enthusiast’s dream!!!

The same goes for college basketball, an 19-11 Penn State needs a Quad 1 win and has to travel out West to beat either UCLA or USC? Again, cool stuff!

The Con: The slow death of the rivalry in some cases. For example, Washington and Washington State play traditionally at the end of the year in the Apple Cup, it’s history, it’s tradition, yeah the teams might not always be great, but it still means something to people.

Now, yeah, it’ll still mean something, but if Washington somehow has a great year, they don’t finish the regular with the Apple Cup, they could end it in East Lansing, or Iowa City. It just feels, and again, its the traditionalist in me, it just doesnt feel right.

The same for college basketball. USC needs that road win over Cal to close out the regular season, that won’t happen anymore, now USC might need that road win against Penn State. It just feels like money rules the day, over tradition, even over exposure and draft stock for players and coaches. As a fan, it takes something from the allure of it all.

As for the Pac 12? It’s now the Pac 4 with California, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State. When these 4 went to bed last night, they were part of a Power 5 Conference, now they’re treading water, barely as a Mom and Pop Conference, craziness.

As I’m writing this, news just broke that Arizona, Arizona State, Utah will follow Colorado to the Big 12, giving the Big 12, 16 Teams!!!

But I’m telling you, as much as everyone hates to admit it, the eyes and ears of the college football world are on South Bend. As I said, the money Notre Dame could bring the networks and the conference lucky enough to snag them for the next wave of media rights deals, holy shit.